1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sunroof deflector structure mounted on the outer side of a ceiling weather strip of a vehicle. more specifically, to a folding type sunroof deflector structure including a first deflector configured to move upwards and downwards through a deflector gate formed on a front frame and a second deflector connected in a rotatable manner at a hinge joint located on the bottom end of the first deflector whereby the second deflector together with the first deflector may be stored in a folded state by device of the hinge joint when stored inside the front frame.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, an opening portion may be formed on the roof panel of the vehicle for discharging indoor air into the outside of the vehicle and introducing outside air into the interior of the vehicle wherein the opening portion can be opened and closed by the sunroof glass installed on the roof of the vehicle.
In particular, recently, most of roof panels are replaced with glass for a clear sense of opening and a remarkable aesthetic sense wherein a panoramic sunroof type is mainly used in which a portion of the sunroofs is opened and closed selectively.
With such a panoramic sunroof, the driver may receive natural sunlight during driving and stopping of the vehicle as well as may feel cool driving comfort by opening the panoramic sunroof during the driving of the vehicle.
Generally, on the front of the opening portion of the above mentioned roof panel, a sunroof deflector serving the function of altering the direction of the driving wind upwards is installed for preventing driving wind from entering inside the vehicle through the opening portion in the open state during driving.
This sunroof deflector primarily is operated in such manners to tilt up the sunroof deflector by using a separate electric motor or to tilt up the sunroof deflector by using the elastic force of a spring compressing the sunroof deflector when the sunroof glass is opened.
Also, this sunroof deflector is classified as a sealing weather strip exterior type deflector positioned inside of the rainwater drainage section formed outside of the sealing weather strip attached to the sunroof frame of the vehicle and as a sealing weather strip interior type deflector positioned inside of the sealing weather strip.
The sealing weather strip exterior type deflector has an advantage of blocking drone noise by rapidly elevating when opening of the sunroof glass, and in the sense of the opening length of the sunroof glass over the sealing weather strip interior type deflector.
As shown in FIG. 1, according to a conventional sunroof deflector structure arranged outside of the sealing weather strip, a fabric type deflector 4 is stored in the inside of the rainwater drainage section 3 installed in the front of the sealing weather strip 2 attached to the sunroof frame 1 of the vehicle wherein a bottom of the deflector 4 is coupled to a fixing plate 5 and the deflector beam 6 is coupled to the top of the deflector 4.
However, as shown in FIG. 2, according to a conventional sunroof deflector structure, the deflector 4 is stored in the rainwater drainage section 3 arranged outside of the sealing weather strip 2, thus is frozen and adhered while the fabric type deflector 4 is folded due to introduction of moisture and cold weather. Accordingly, the deflector 4 is not tilted up properly.
Furthermore, when a hard type deflector is used instead of a fabric type deflector to solve the above problem, a low profiled deflector needs to be installed due to the limitation of the storage space of the sunroof frame, and correspondingly, the drone noise is increased, which is caused from cavity resonance generated between interior air of the vehicle and air vibration at the low frequency band region, passing along the opening section of the sunroof during low speed or middle speed driving of the vehicle.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.